Open Enrollment

Once you run a business, you will need to start to offer some sort of benefits to your employees. While you choose all the benefits you offer employees, there are certain plans, such as a health plan, that may have several choices. Employees need the option to choose from one of those plans, or to choose none at all. That’s what open enrollment is all about.

What is Open Enrollment?

Open Enrollment is the period of time employers set up to allow employees to choose from the plans available to them. Usually open enrollment covers insurance plans such as health, dental, vision, life, accidental death & dismemberment, short term disability and long term disability. It also covers any additional voluntary or supplementary plans your company may offer.

Employees can choose:

• To start coverage if they don’t have any;
• Change from one plan to another, if that option is available; or
• Drop coverage completely, if that’s an option.

When is Open Enrollment?

This time period happens on an annual basis. It’s easiest to coordinate with your providers to make sure that open enrollment for each coverage plan falls at the same time of the year, rather than have different open enrollment times for every plan. Most plan providers won’t let you or your employers make a change unless there’s a qualifying event.

The main qualifying event is defined by the IRS as an event that:

• Marriage;
• Birth;
• Adoption;
• Divorce or legal separation;
• Death of spouse or dependent.

For other qualifying events, review IRS’ web site for more details.